Odyssey February 2003 Readers' Forum

Editor's Note: The following are letters I solicited via the OASIS Members E-mail list. I asked how people felt about the tragic loss of the Columbia? My request was, "Tell me what you have to say." The opinions expressed by the writers are very diverse, they are their own opinions and do not represent the opinion of OASIS or NSS.

I too grieve for these seven (again) of our best and brightest. May we hope to match their glorious achievements? A poem other than High Flight also seems somehow apropos:

Concord Hymn

Ralph Waldo Emerson

By the rude bridge that arched the flood.
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, 
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream, 
We set to-day a votive stone; 
That memory may their deed redeem, 
When, like our sires, are sons are gone.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die and leave their children free, 
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.

My biggest fear is for the space program as a whole. The worst thing that could happen would be for us to shut down again for almost 3 years, as happened after Challenger.

And, there's the predictable libertarian chorus of "Kill the Shuttle, Kill the station!" coming from some quarters.

First, accept that the Shuttle is not a good long term answer. Even if it could be made safe, it's too expensive. Completely lose the notion of flying those birds until the year 2020.

Second, get the Shuttle flying again…at an increased flight rate, to make up for the reduced fleet size. This should happen in months, not years. The NASA Administrator said he wanted to see the Expedition Six crew replaced by the Expedition Seven crew by the Shuttle. That's exactly what should happen. A few months late, for sure, but that's OK. As part of this package, we should expect that one will go belly up one way or the other every 50 flights or so. We should plan on a max of 150 more shuttle flights, and to lose more vehicles and crews if we have to fly them that much.

Third, give a big shot of adrenaline to the crew return vehicle program. Lots of engineering has already been done on this effort, so it can be jump started quickly. Get it flying, crank 'em out like jelly beans, and start using them to get people up, as well as down, on expendables. The Shuttle costs $500M+ a pop to fly. Even throwing away the return vehicle each time, it will be cheaper. Reusable doesn't matter, CHEAP matters.

Fourth, fund a new program for access to space that really opens it up to competition. Reserve a specific minimum number of launches (cargo only, to start) for people based just on price…and they need to include insurance on the payload with a viable insurance provider. After a vendor demonstrates reliability of at least, say, no more than one failure in 50, then start letting them fly people the government needs as well (they should fly private folks whenever those folks are willing to pay).

Above all, don't wait a long time to get back in the air. Don't even think about it. We could have launched shuttles the day after Challenger with a lower temp limit of 60 degrees until it all got sorted out. GET BACK INTO SPACE….SOON!

The Space Shuttle Columbia exploded today over Texas, during reentry. Travelling at more than half of orbital velocity at an altitude of about 63 km, the spacecraft disintegrated. This might have been due to heat shield failure, according to some of the early evidence, but the real cause will hopefully be determined by further investigation. Naturally, under these conditions, there can be no survivors.

I'm taken back by this event to the Shuttle Challenger's destruction in 1986, even though none of the particulars are the same, except for the loss of life, and the inevitable impact on the US space program, and the personal impact on space-enthusiasts and activists everywhere. I remember having to explain repeatedly that "yes, I would still fly if I had the chance" and "no, my enthusiasm for space was not dimmed." I know in my heart that this would be the exact sentiment of anyone in the NASA program or in the international space movement, including the ones who died - then or now. The exploration and development of space is an important goal, and not one to be given up (or even put on hold) lightly.

Today, unlike then, there is a crew in space, aboard the International Space Station Alpha, and that crew will need to continue operations, come home, and be relieved by another crew. We cannot simply retreat from space, the way we did in 1986, when it took over two years to get back to flying space missions. We must find out what went wrong and fix the problem as far as it can fixed to reduce the risk of later missions, but then we must carry on. I don't like risks, but we all know that they have to be taken if we are to achieve our goals of developing space, and those goals are important.

There is some security in knowing that the Russians still have flyable spacecraft, and that the Space Station has Soyuz capsules to evacuate the crew if the need arises - the Shuttle is not the sole means of accessing the ISS - and in that sense, we are fortunate.

But before we move on, we should all take awhile to grieve and mourn the loss of seven brave people who took this necessary risk for all of us, and lost their lives doing it: commander Rick Husband, pilot Willie McCool and mission specialists Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, Mike Anderson, David Brown, and Israeli payload specialist Ilan Ramon.

A life more ordinary....
[mood: exhausted]
[music: Heroes - David Bowie and Brian Eno]

And because I know well enough that people sorta expect it of me, being an aerospace engineer by marriage....

The next time, whilst strolling Venice boardwalk on a Ghods-gorgeous day, somebody asks me if I have 'heard the news,' I shall endeavour to remember to not ask what that news was. Not because I do not care about what did happen, but for that instance, ignorance would have been bliss.

Seven people died. Died under conditions that we cannot even begin to imagine. And yet, I find myself not wanting to immortalize them. Not make them heroes. Not make them anything more than ordinary people doing an ordinary job that should be routine and part of our everyday lives.

I will mourn them. As I will mourn for anyone who died. But I will not iconisize them. Make them larger-than-life. Make their deaths somehow have more meaning than any other. Does the death of one Israeli astronaut outweigh the deaths of all the people in his country? Does his death somehow 'even the score?' Why should his loss be worth more than a five-year-old Palestinian boy caught in crossfire? They are all human beings. And each and every of their deaths diminishes the universe.

So why, I keep asking myself, do we seem to care more about these seven people? Is it because they were Astronauts (capital intentional)? I want to live in a world with astronauts, rather than Astronauts. Where going into space is as common and everyday an occurance as getting into my car and going to work. Where if an astronaut dies, they will be mourned as a human being, and not some superhero doing a superheroic job. I want to remember them as having a life more ordinary, rather than less.

STS-107 Columbia 1981-2003
Seven New Stars in Heaven Tonight

It all seems so easy right? Just climb aboard a shuttle, and just take off. No problem. Then come on back, atmospheric reentry.No sweat.A gentle glide, a long rollout, and then the happy hugs of your family and friends.

As many of you learned this morning, spaceflight is still an all-too-fragile daisy-chain of events, any one of which can ruin your whole day. You can't be too blase about spaceflight when people are involved in the loop.

This morning seven brave adventurers lost their lives. They were living out our dreams. A sad, sad day indeed — and less than fifteen minutes before mission completion.

The fact and irony that the tragedy befalling the 113th U.S. space shuttle mission occurred during the week of commemorations for the 36th anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire (January 27, 1967) and the 17th anniversary of mission STS-51L "Challenger" (January 28, 1986) is not lost on the members of the Society.

In 1986, chief astronaut John Young stated before the Challenger Accident Investigation Committee that sooner or later we would lose other orbiters. Specifically, Captain Young said that they always expected that they might lose a shuttle on return, not on liftoff.

After 80 plus flights -- and 17 years since Challenger -- the fact that we haven't lost an orbiter until now (with respect to this tragedy) is a pretty good record in comparison to a greater number of commercial and private airplane crashes that have occurred over the same length of time.

If NASA continues flying these shuttles for the next 10 to 15 years you can bet we'll lose another one.

It's a reminder that spaceflight -- regardless of how blase some of you in the media try to paint it and the rest of the world perceives -- will always remain risky.

I'm reminded of an old Star Trek episode wherein Captain Kirk says, Risk. . .risk is our business. But as he pointed out, the benefits of spaceflight are potentially so profound that the risk is clearly worth it.Let us hope that those who want the space program budget gutted will be met with defiance, lest these good men and women have given their lives in vain.

It is all a part of the risky business of spaceflight. This is a fact that you in the media should continue to emphasize with the general public.

HOWEVER — We are still in space.Three of Earth's citizens are still onboard the International Space Station, "Alpha."Obviously, there will be a shuttle stand-down as an Accident Review Board is convened.Then — hopefully — we must Return to Flight.The possibility of accidents like this are part of the business of space travel.

It's clear that decisions about the near term future of ISS will need to made shortly.They are well supplied and have safe return to Earth available. The next Expedition crew can go up on the April 25 Soyuz "taxi" flight, bumping the visiting crew — they are trained for that.

a) Bring the current crew down in Soyuz at some point, and leave the station mothballed. However, I'm not sure if the station can maintain itself without a crew.

b) Swap out the current crew with the upcoming taxi crew. There may be an opportunity for a NASA astronaut to take one of the 3 seats on the Soyuz taxi, and to have that crew serve as an interim expedition.

c) Swap out the Soyuz with a new one during the taxi mission, but keep the current crew at ISS for at least three months. In the meantime, the Russians could accelerate work on the subsequent Soyuz, so that it would be ready for launch sooner than the normal 6 months.

I'm not sure which of these is the course that will be taken.I believe that the current situation should require that the President waive the Iran Nonproliferation Act, which forbids payment to the Russians for ISS services.

This should be a real wake up call to the President, members of Congress and even NASA itself that if we're going to have a continued presence in space we need additional options to the shuttle — something that would allow us to keep flying when accidents like this occur.

With your help, we can work together to educate the general public and those that need to know. . .and make the right decisions in the near future

But for now, let us never forget these brave pioneers. Their spirit of exploration is eternal:

Rick Husband, Willie McCool, Dave Brown, Laurel Clark,
Kalpana Chawla, Mike Anderson, Ilan Ramon

In the year 1986, I was in 8th grade at South Middle School in Downey, CA, I remember sitting in class waiting to watch the lift off the space shuttle Challenger. When I recently recalled this memory, my husband reminded me that we were watching the take off because it was the first teacher who was to go to space. It seemed like a normal day, I had watched the space shuttle take off many times before (my brother Rick use to wake me up at some crazy hour like 4 in the morning to watch the take offs with him when we were younger). That morning it seemed like everything was normal with the lift off. I remember everyone was buzzing with excitement because we were excited that we didn't have to do our class work and we got to watch TV. in class that day. Then just as the spaceship was taking off it seemed to blow up. Every one just sat in silence, as if we could not believe our eyes. The news brief interrupted the broadcast and some one came on and informed us about the tragedy. I remember sitting there numb, not really knowing what to say and not quite believing it could be true. The rest of the day was sort of like moving in slow motion. For the time, to an almost 14 year old kid, who lived a pretty sheltered life in a middle class neighborhood that was pretty shocking.

The year 2003, I am almost 30 and living an unsheltered life. Seeing the types of wrongs that go on in the world on a regular basis and being a consumer of the "no holds barred" approach of the entertainment industry, I no longer feel sheltered or that much of anything is shocking. My first thought after hearing of the Columbia disaster was "How timely." I recalled recent talk of budget cuts for NASA Projects and that without the proper funding for the projects, the program could be in danger for a tragedy to happen. I thought it was interesting that the explosion happened over the state of Texas, the home state of our current president, in a time when space exploration holds very little interest to people. In this age when we have so much control over the world it seem senseless that accidents even occur anymore, especially when it comes down to the Almighty Dollar.

The following was received from Suzanne E. Morse, daughter of Allen C. Morse, a former member of NSS and an aerospace engineer for 30+ years. Mr. Morse designed the guidance control systems on the Apollo rockets and the hydraulics system on the Space Shuttle. He passed away in 2000.

This loss is a very personal loss for me as I have had acquaintance with the many female astronauts over the years including Laurel Clark. Also, the parents of William McCool are members of my church — professors at UNLV, and so we've had to be there for them. But what hurts the most is that something in the hydraulics system might have malfunctioned - (my father's design) - and I so much want to talk to him about it but can't anymore. So the pain just lingers.
— Suzanne E. Morse — Las Vegas

I feel very devastated about the Columbia space shuttle. I feel very sad for the families of the 7 Astronauts of the Columbia space shuttle. I feel sad because some of the astronauts had children those children are probably asking for their moms or dads.

Yes, I do think the space program should keep sending space equipment and astronauts into space. I think they should just make sure things are very tight.

Readers' Forum, February 2003

Concord Hymn

STS-107 Columbia 1981-2003
Seven New Stars in Heaven Tonight

Readers' Forum, February 2003

Concord Hymn

STS-107 Columbia 1981-2003 Seven New Stars in Heaven Tonight

STS-107 Columbia 1981-2003
Seven New Stars in Heaven Tonight